Black Mesa Science Team
The Black Mesa Science Team is the overwhelming majority of Black Mesa's population. With the Black Mesa Security Force, it is one of the most important bodies of the Black Mesa Personnel. Overview Each scientist is granted a different security clearance specific to his or her duty, with an average clearance of Level 5. Like other employees, scientists have an assigned uniform, consisting of a blue shirt, white lab coat, red striped tie and white (or beige) slacks. In Opposing Force, a cleansuit-wearing variation of the normal scientist appears in limited areas. Some scientists are trained in the use of the MP5 submachine gun as part of Hazard Course training, but most have little or no combat skills or experience. Positions *'Research and Development' - The largest portion of the scientists are assigned to research and development positions, where they conduct experiments and create new technologies. The research conducted ranges in focus from particle physics to biological study to space travel. Most R&D scientists have a limited knowledge of first aid, and can heal some wounds. *'Research Associate' - Research Associates work alongside R&D scientists, but with a lower status in the employment hierarchy. They are usually required to conduct the more mundane or less desirable portions of a given experiment. Dr. Gordon Freeman and Dr. Colette Green are notable research associates. *'Hazardous Environment Supervisor' - Supervisors act in a similar role to research associates in that they assist in experiments, but they are primarily concerned with maintaining a safe work environment. Dr. Gina Cross works in this position. *'Instructor' - Scientists will often take on additional work training employees and conducting simulations in the Sector A Training Facility, as themselves or their hologram counterparts. *'Survey Team' - Survey Teams were organized soon after the first teleportation labs were constructed in Black Mesa. Their assignment is the most dangerous, as they are tasked with entering the borderworld Xen to collect samples and conduct experiments. Because of the danger, Survey Team members are highly trained in the use of the HEV Suit and a variety of weapons. Many Survey Team scientists have died on Xen. Notable members *Gordon Freeman *Rosenberg *Richard Keller *Gina Cross *Colette Green *Wallace Breen (Administrator) *Isaac Kleiner *Eli Vance *Arne Magnusson *Complete list In-game Although cowardly and clumsy at times, scientists can assist the player with certain tasks like Retinal Scanners or opening doors, but they tend to be physically weak, dying within a few shots. Scientists have some first aid skills and will administer a medicine boost to a wounded player with a health level under 50. Cleansuit scientists do not have that ability. Scientists are also notable to say random, sometimes humorous sentences, most of the time when they are triggered. Behind the scenes *Originally, all Black Mesa employees were to be hostile to the player. The Barney NPC was then used by Valve's AI programmer Steve Bond to run experiments in enemy squad behavior. By putting the player in the role of squad leader, and forcing Barney to follow instead of fight the player, Bond hoped for an easy way to test navigation rules. The unexpected result of this experiment was a working companion character, which instantly appealed to every playtester who saw Barney in action. This caused the team to rethink large portions of the story and Gordon's role in it, and the game was completely overhauled in late 1997. In that process of converting enemies to allies, the team also came to think about characters that were neither allies nor enemies to the player, leading to the creation of the G-Man.Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar *Security guards and scientists were also to have a much more frightened, almost cartoonish face.Half-Life Beta *''Half-Life'' was also to feature female scientists, other than the Holographic Assistant. The texture files for the model can be found in the folder "f_science" (likely the name of the model) in the Half-Life: Source texture folder, but not in that of the original Half-Life. Female scientists were finally introduced in Decay, as Gina Cross and Colette Green, although Cross is mentioned in a Black Mesa Announcement System message at the start of Half-Life. Half-Life 2 features another yet unidentified female scientist, seen in the photograph in Kleiner's Lab. Scientists list The scientist NPC features four standard models, with a cleansuit variant and the dead Survey Team members in HEV Suits found on Xen, as well as the Zombie version. Each four standard version has two HD versions (one introduced in the High Definition Pack, the other in Decay). Most of the time, scientist models are used randomly by the game. However is many instances the same model is used each time. Trivia *Through a security camera in the Blue Shift chapter Insecurity can be seen a scientist briefly dancing to himself, while another is watching, skeptical. The dancing animation was originally in the Gonome model, under the name "veryhappy" in the original model, and "sohappy" in the Steam version. In the original scientist model, it is named "sohappy", and "hambone" in the Steam version. Gallery Pre-release File:Alien slave2.jpg|Concept of an Alien Slave eating a scientist. File:Early scientist concept.jpg|Concept art for a scientist, with a rat. File:0047-experiment1.JPG|Scientist near a blue Panther Eye held in an experiment lab. File:F science.png|Texture files for the cut female scientist from the Half-Life: Source files. As with most of the textures files, they appear slightly deformed, while their size always appear correctly in-game. Therefore the head should be slightly narrower. She appears frightened, as most of the old scientist face textures. File:Bullchicken white.jpg|White Bullsquid about to attack a scientist. File:Bullsquid guard.jpg|Early Bullsquid eating Black Mesa employees. File:HECU scientist beatup.jpg|HECU soldiers beating up a scientist. File:Ichthyosaur beta scientist.jpg|Ichthyosaur attacking a scientist in a early version of the CenCom Reservoir. There are no scientists there in the final version. File:Panther eye-scientist.jpg|Panther Eye about to eat a scientist. File:0015-scientists crates.JPG|Scientists and crates. File:Ironic injury sign.jpg|Ironic sign. File:0009-beatup.JPG|HECU soldiers beating up scientists. File:0006-sci panther.JPG|Scientist about the be attacked by a Panther Eye. File:0004-early lab1.JPG|Scientists and MP guards. File:0003-sci outside.JPG|Scientists outside, including the removed shadows. File:Scientist glass.jpg|Shattered glass falling on a scientist. Retail ''Half-Life'' File:Black Mesa lobby.jpg|Scientist and security guard in the Sector C entrance hall. File:AnomalousMaterialsResearchTeam.jpg|Scientists in Sector C. File:C1a0002.jpg|Scientist and the G-Man discussing behind a window. File:Test-chamber-ctrl.jpg|Scientists in the upper Anti-Mass Spectrometer Control Room. File:Scientist revive.jpg|Scientist attempting to revive a security guard right after the Resonance Cascade. File:Eli help.jpg|Eli Vance helping a scientist up after the Resonance Cascade. File:Eli Vance talk HL1.jpg|Eli Vance telling Gordon to reach the outside. File:HL BMRF OfficeComplex.jpg|A Headcrab and a dead scientist in the Black Mesa Office Complex. File:C1a4i0001.jpg|Tentacle taking away a scientist in Silo D. File:Scanner-lambda-core.jpg|Scientist operating a Retinal Scanner at the entrance of the Lambda Complex. File:C3a2a0001.jpg|Vortigaunts "communicating" over a scientist corpse in the Lambda Complex. File:Shotgun scientist HL.jpg|The shotgun scientist and a security guard, [[:File:Kleiner shotgun.jpg|mirrored in Half-Life 2]]. File:Longjump lambda.jpg|Scientist introducing the Long Jump Module. File:Survey member dead weapon box Xen.jpg|Dead Survey Team member in Gonarch's Lair. File:C4a20001.jpg|Ditto. File:Zombie Scientist.jpg|Zombie scientist. ''Half-Life: Uplink'' File:Uplink scientists firing squad.jpg|HECU soldiers killing scientists. ''Half-Life: Opposing Force'' File:Of1a10004.jpg|Scientist examining a Headcrab. File:We Are Pulling Out4.jpg|A scientist fears for his life at the hands of the HECU. File:Vicarious Reality2.jpg|Holographic scientist. File:S. jones.jpg|S. Jones's corpse. File:S. reardon.jpg|S. Reardon's corpse. File:Crush Depth2.jpg|Clean suit scientist rescued by Adrian Shephard. File:SIGN CLNSUIT.png|Clean suit sign. File:Black Mesa clean suit.svg|Black Mesa logo as seen on the clean suits. ''Half-Life: Blue Shift'' File:Living Quarters Outbound2.jpg|Scientist hindering Barney's ride to work. File:BS scientists lab.jpg|Several scientists in a modern laboratory along the Transit System. File:Prax1.jpg|Security guard and scientist playing Prax Wars 2: Dante's Revenge in a lavomat along the Transit System. File:Laundromat waiting.jpg|Scientist in civilian clothes reading The Mesa Times while waiting for his laundry in a lavomat along the Transit System. File:Shirts dry.jpg|Scientist shirts waiting to be picked up in a lavomat along the Transit System. File:Insecurity.jpg|Scientist threatening a security guard. File:My files.jpg|Ditto. File:Dancing scientist1.jpg|Scientist seen dancing through a security camera. File:Dancing scientist2.jpg|Ditto. File:Ba maint0000.jpg|Scientists working on a malfunctioning computer. File:Mesa times scientist.jpg|Scientist reading The Mesa Times on a Transit System platform in Sector C. File:Suv magnum2.jpg|Abandoned Black Mesa SUV, with a dead scientist and security guard. File:Dead HEV scientist on Xen.jpg|Dead Survey Team scientist on Xen. File:Ba xen20001.jpg|Ditto. File:Ba xen20008.jpg|Ditto, underwater. File:Ba xen50001.jpg|Survey team equipment on Xen. File:Ba xen50002.jpg|Ditto, with crystal being studied. ''Half-Life 2'' File:Photo group001a2.png|The Anomalous Materials team posing in the Black Mesa Anomalous Materials lobby before the Black Mesa Incident, as seen in Kleiner's Lab. Advertisement File:C1A0 FLIPSIGN6.png|"Working as a team!". Black Mesa Science Team advertisement. File:Ba propaganda2.png|"Success!". Black Mesa Science Team advertisement. File:Propaganda 02.png|"Do your part!". Clean suit advertisement. List of appearances *''Half-Life: Day One'' *''Half-Life'' *''Half-Life: Uplink'' *''Half-Life: Opposing Force'' *''Half-Life: Blue Shift'' *''Half-Life: Decay'' *''Half-Life 2'' *''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'' *''Half-Life 2: Lost Coast'' *''Half-Life 2: Episode One'' *''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'' Notes and references Category:Half-Life Category:Half-Life: Opposing Force Category:Half-Life: Blue Shift Category:Half-Life: Decay Category:Factions Category:Black Mesa Personnel Category:Allies Category:Chuck Jones designs Category:HEV Suit users